Behind the Lens with Reid Zandbelt
When Reid Zandbelt (BCom/15) was working in B.C. last summer, he walked outside one evening and thought the clouds looked strange. Then the clouds started moving really quickly and Reid knew he was seeing the Northern Lights.
“I ran and grabbed my camera,” Reid remembered. “I didn’t know the proper settings that would make a good photograph of the northern lights so I just winged it and it turned out really well. I was happy that I could capture that first time I saw the northern lights on camera.”
Reid’s skill at night photography started back when he was in second year at Sprott. Scrolling through his Instagram feed he saw a photo of a truck in the Utah salt flats under the night sky. That was the moment he decided he wanted to try his hand at photography.
After doing some research, he purchased a camera and taught himself how to use it. He has taken his camera with him backpacking across Europe and during his adventure driving across Canada last year. His camera will also be going with him when he visits New Zealand in January.
His new passion is videography. He likes the storytelling aspect of creating videos and he worked at a video production company this summer filming weddings. He hopes to take his skill with the camera and create videos for tourism companies in the future. Reid said his favourite part about taking photos and videos is “being able to see and go places that other people don’t necessarily get to experience.”
“Night photography for example, not many people living in the city have seen a full night sky outside the city in complete darkness. I went to go see a meteor shower earlier this summer and that was my first time seeing one. It blew my mind,” Reid shared.
“For night photography, a lot of things have to align in order for you to be able to take pictures. It has to be the right time of the year for the milky way to be above the horizon, right time of the month for the moon to not be visible, and then you just have to hope for good weather. Everything worked out perfectly.”
Earlier this year Reid began selling his photographs on his website. This has been a goal of his since he started photography. Reid said he was able to put to use some of the skills he learned during his time at Sprott to help him make money with his hobby.
During university, Reid played on the men’s ultimate frisbee team at Carleton. He represented Carleton University at tournaments all over the province. Although this kept him busy, he remembers how strongly he felt he was part of the Sprott community.
“The community at Sprott seemed so close, unlike some other programs from what I could see,” said Reid. “Sprott was this tightknit group where you could approach anyone and it’s not a big deal at all. I really liked that aspect of it.”
Reid worked at the Border Services Agency after graduating from Carleton, knowing he wanted to travel. A year later and he embarked on his backpacking trip across Europe where he visited the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Croatia and Bosnia. He has been working at Health Canada for the past year.
“I work at the office of medical cannabis. I’m working to process applications for people to grow at home for medical purposes. It was really interesting leading up to legalization because it’s in the media so much, so it’s neat to be a part of that,” said Reid.
As someone who teleworks from home, Reid knows the importance of time management. His advice for Sprott students is to develop those time management skills and not be afraid to take the first step in starting a hobby you are interested in.
“If you like doing something and you’re debating going after it, just start. I waited a long time before I took myself seriously as a photographer and videographer. Having everyone around you tell you that you’re good at something is great but for me I am very hard on myself and always wanting to improve and be better. You are your own worst critic. I still struggle with this but I’ve slowly started to accept that I may not be terrible at what I do. I think that the learning curve could have been shortened by quite a bit if I had just dove right in without hesitation,” Reid expressed. “If you like something, why not pursue it?”
See more of Reid’s photography on Instagram: reidzandbelt